Magic City
Medium Orchestra
Duration: 10:00
“ln Magic City for orchestra, contrasting contours are created by interplays between families of instruments. Schenkerian analysis would reveal an extended upward progression by semitones, with the orchestration becoming increasingly dense. Musical tension, accentuated by the increasing brass and timpani presence and by incessant repeated-note articulations, finally gives way to a thinner texture in which violins and low strings call, while orchestral gun-like shots respond. However, in an evocative layering of orchestral bells and chimes, the shots and urgent repeated chords seem, finally, to melt. The charm of Magic City is expressed by this final gentleness.”
~Carol Ann Weaver, “Compact Disc Reviews: Tapping the Furnace: Music by Dorothy Hindman, lnnova848 (2013),” IAWM Journal Volume 21, No. 1 2015, 44-45
“Dorothy Hindman … has produced a very likeable 10-minute overture in “Magic City. Inspired by her adopted home, she paints a musical canvas that vividly suggests expansiveness and city bustle. Repeated notes and overlapping phrases set the backdrop for the work’s well-crafted orchestration.”
~Michael Huebner, “ASO’s ‘Magic City ’ well crafted,” The Birmingham News, Friday, February 1, 2002
Program Notes:
Magic City (in moto perpetuo) utilizes four simple chords and a steady eighth note pulse. Each chord is presented first as a harmonic area within which distinguishing melodic fragments and timbral gestures occur. Gradually, the durations of each chord and its associated melodies and timbres become shorter, until the chords appear as a progression, and a composite melody is heard. Overall, the work can be heard as a metaphor for the bustling activity in any city from one day to the next. However, it is specifically a tribute to the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama, as it enters an exciting new era of support and dedication to the arts. Magic City was made possible in part by a 1998-99 Artist Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Premiere:
January, 2002
Alabama Symphony Orchestra
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Alys Stephens Center
Birmingham, AL
Commissioner: Alabama State Council on the Arts
Recordings:
Tapping the Furnace, innova 848
Masterworks of the New Era, Volume 10, ERM Media